Christmas Shopping

In the past, I’ve been proud of my ability to Christmas shop for people throughout the year and am usually finished with my major shopping by the 1st of December. This year is very different.

I held off on buying Christmas presents for most of the year because it was our first Christmas as a married couple and productive working citizens instead of “poor college students.” I thought it’d be easier because I’d have Brad to help me out and I’d be able to expand the Christmas shopping budget. Although those things are true, Christmas shopping is much more difficult this year.

I put it off too much. Because of delaying the start of shopping, I feel much more rushed this year because I didn’t do any shopping in the rest of the year. We still have several people on our list to find gifts for.

There’s not enough time in a day. Neither of us consistently leave work at 5:00, we stay until the job is done. Then Brad has an unpredictable commute home so we never know when we can start shopping on weekday evenings. And our weekends during this season tend to fill up quickly.

It’s weird. Shopping this year is weird for many reasons. I don’t go shopping without Brad most of the time because I don’t always see things and think of which of his family members would like it. We were shopping last week and he saw something that I would have never looked at twice and said, “Don’t you think my great-grandma would like this?’ She definitely would like it, but I wouldn’t have thought about her when I saw it. I may be a part of the family, but I’m still learning about little likes and dislikes. It’s also weird (and a little tough) because every single time I go shopping, I see at least one thing that would have made a great present for my dad. For Christmases past, he had been a tough person to shop for. It’s funny how you see things that would be perfect for someone when you no longer buy them presents (for whatever reason).

Online shopping isn’t my thing. You may have started thinking while reading my excuses list above: she should just shop online. Online shopping is fantastic! If you know what you want to give someone. But if you don’t have a clue, like me, seeing things sometimes makes it easier to pick something out. That and I tend to think too much.

Other notes about gifts

If you are on our Christmas shopping list, rest assured that, even if it’s purchased close to the wire, it was pick out with you in mind. Also, if I wrap a present for you, I selected wrapping paper and a gift tag that I think you might like. Lots of care and thought goes into gift giving.

NO!!! this year has been the worst year for me for shopping! not that i buy things all year or anything, but truly, i am ALWAYS done by the 15th of Dec. this year i only had 4 people done by then!! i have heard lots of the same complaints from others (i work in retail), so i think it must be in the air! good luck with your shopping and Merry Christmas!!!